Ask the Moon back for Personal Ensign but not as a long shot this time
The 6-year-old mare, Ask the Moon, cannot be considered as a long shot anymore, especially after her front running upset victory in the Grade 1 Ruffian Invitational on the dirt course of Saratoga on 31 July, 2011, at odds of 18 to 1.
The Martin Wolfson trained mare will enter the race with her head held up high, after her unbelievable turn of foot in the Ruffian, in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Invitational at Saratoga on 28 August, 2011.
The 1 ¼ mile event for fillies and mares lost its hype when champion fillies, Blind Luck and Havre de Grace, chose to skip the race, but some luster still remains as the top three of the Ruffian are included in the $300,000 Personal Ensign.
Ask the Moon runs best on wet tracks and she might get one at Saratoga as there is forecast for rain on 28 August, and she relishes such conditions with 4 wins out of 8 races in wet conditions.
She drew post number 3.
Recently purchased by Farnsworth Stables for $75,000, Ask the Moon has already started working on breaking her cost even after a sensational victory in the Ruffian for her new owners.
The mare went wire to wire to land her first graded stakes she ever ran, in her first start under conditioner Martin Wolfson.
The Malibu Moon mare will be facing Pachattack, who recently ran 5th in the Grade 1 Beverly D. on grass. She entered the Personal Ensign two weeks after her turf victory.
Pachattack is not familiar with dirt and the Personal Ensign will mark as her dirt debut, but she has gone on to win the Woodbine synthetic surface fixture, the 1 ¼ miles Maple Leaf Stakes last year.
The Ruffian Invitational's runner-up, Super Espresso, will also pose a threat to Ask the Moon’s hopes to win back to back Grade 1 races and would certainly look to exact her revenge for the Ruffian loss.
Ask the Moon has a record of 9 wins out of 31 starts with 5 second money and 7 third money with the lifetime earnings of $533,640.
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